


Murder 101

by December21st



Category: Castle
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-03-18
Updated: 2012-03-18
Packaged: 2017-11-02 03:39:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 254
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/364564
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/December21st/pseuds/December21st
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Latin is called a dead language. The victim's dead too.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Murder 101

**Author's Note:**

> Response to the challenge **"Speaking in Tongues"** at LiveJournal's Castleland, where the challenge was to write a fic including at least ten words in a language other than English.

"What can you tell us about Professor Turner?" Beckett asked the besectacled man sitting across the desk from her in his tiny cluttered office.

"He was inept. _Ut apes geometriam._ 1 A simpleton overwhelmed by his responsibilities. He had the soul of a bureaucrat. He was going to cut the funding to our Ancient Literature program in half, and eliminate the Latin Club's trip to Rome entirely!" Professor Wembly sputtered. "Do you know what that's like?"

" _Nec quicquam acrius quam pecuniae damnum stimulat._ "2 Castle responded from beside Beckett, earning a curious look.

"You know your Latin idioms, Mr. Castle!" Wembley exclaimed happily.

"I had an interesting education."

"And when was the last time you saw Professor Turner?" Beckett asked, returning to her questions.

"Why, just last night! I went in to his office to plead with him to reconsider about the trip to Rome. He just would not listen to reason! He made my spleen ache." Wembley actually trembled as he recalled the experience.

"Your ... spleen?" Beckett's not sure she wants to know.

"Ancient Romans believed that anger lived in the spleen. It's where the phrase 'vent your spleen', meaning 'express your anger' comes from." Castle cheerfully lectured.

"And Professor Turner was still alive when you left him?" Beckett wondered.

"Of course," Webmbley assured Beckett eagerly.

"And when I run a DNA test on the blob of spit on Turner's face, it won't match your DNA?" Beckett demanded.

"... DNA test?" Wembley seemed suddenly uncertain.

Castle considered Wembley carefully. " _Habet et musca splenem._ "3

**Author's Note:**

>  **Translations** :  
> 1 - Like bees at geometry.  
> 2 - Nothing stings more deeply than the loss of money.  
> 3 - Even a fly has a spleen.
> 
> Idioms and their translations from _Idiom's Delight_ by Sue Brock.


End file.
